The swallows are in training for their flight home. They disappear during the day for long stretches, stretching their wings, building strength, getting the little ones ready. One pair on the back porch still has a brood in a nest, however. I’m not sure those little ones will be ready when the September call home comes. We’ll see. I wonder if they worry about that. It wouldn’t surprise me, but I don’t know how you’d study it.

Speaking of birds, I have a Carolina Wren who calls my place home, several probably. One of them was sitting in the Eve’s Necklace this morning, singing away. Then, when I went out to check on the pool, he followed me to the deck and continued singing there. After a bit he headed off to the oaks that line the fence between my place and the neighbor’s pasture. Still singing. Glad to see he’s happy. Meanwhile, the dove’s nest in the Chinquapin is empty. I hope everything went well.

I like my birds, and I worry about them and the cats. But I think everyone has come to understand how the game is played. The cats get a swallow every now and again and sometimes a Mockingbird. But there is so much vegetation beneath the big oaks that there’s lots of seeds and places for birds to feed on the ground, where the cats can’t even see them or get to them. So, I think we’re all good and working toward some sort of balance. Plus, the cats look sort of fat and lazy these days, but maybe that’s just summer making the furballs slow down.